More specifically, CAPE represents the amount of buoyant energy available to speed up a parcel vertically, or the amount of work a parcel does on the environment. Storms require high CAPE values; the higher the CAPE value, the more energy available to promote storm growth. CAPE is especially important when air parcels are able to reach the (LFC) or Layer of Free Convection. To find CAPE from a skew-T thermodynamic diagram like the one below, simply locate the area on the diagram where the parcel sounding (Thick yellow vertical line) is farther to the right (warmer) than the atmosphere sounding (red line). The white shaded region on the sounding below is the area of CAPE.